There have been no new deaths and 242 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the Republic this evening.
Of the cases notified today, 63 per cent are under 45 years of age, with a median age of 37 years old.
There are 76 cases located in Dublin, 27 in Donegal, 22 in Kilkenny, 16 in Galway, 14 in Louth and the remaining 87 cases are spread across 18 other counties.
As of 2pm today, there were 223 Covid-19 patients hospitalised with 28 in intensive care. The 14-day incidence rate is now 80.4 cases of the virus per 100,000 population.
Speaking this evening, Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said 78 per cent of people were currently reporting staying home rather than going out, in a downward trend of the number.
He said the "worry index" recorded by public health officials was matching this trend, with people "less concerned" overall about the virus - a development predictive of its growth rate and the number of close contacts reported.
Dr Holohan said the country had now "passed the low point" in terms of the number of Covid-19 cases recorded, at a much higher level than officials had hoped to have seen.
He said people now had the opportunity to take part in a widened selection of activities and urged the public to "select from that menu" rather than do everything currently permitted.
Vaccines
Dr Holohan said he had attended a meeting of the country's vaccine taskforce this afternoon along with Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn.
"We had a good and busy and productive meeting," Dr Holohan said.
He described plans to distribute a vaccine to the Irish population as "at a very advanced stage" ahead of their approval by Government.
A further nine people have died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland while 397 people tested positive for the virus, the region’s Department of Health said on Monday.
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines will begin from tomorrow in the North, as the UK embarks on the largest-scale immunisation programme in its history.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said Ireland "will be ready" to roll out Covid-19 vaccines as soon as EU approval for the process comes through.
However, he insisted that Irish people need to adhere to protective measures if further lockdowns are to be avoided in the New Year.
It comes as the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has warned a “major increase” in people socialising could see up to 1,200 cases of the virus confirmed per day by the second week of January.
In a letter sent last week, the group warned Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly that growth in socialisation over the festive period could “lead to much higher levels of viral transmission than have been seen to date”.
The Government has renewed its appeal for Irish people living abroad to skip a return home for Christmas this year amid the pandemic, as it projects the number travelling home will be significantly lower than last year.
